The heat

There was no direction into which we were going. Our last canteens were half empty and no one drove by to rescue us. Our clothes covered in sand and sweat. Our faces dirty and eyes squinting to see past the sun's rays. I dragged myself past the scorching sand as I spotted a palm tree with some shade. I dropped myself near the trunk and sighed. It was my sister that dragged us into this. “You had to do this. I told you!”. “I'm sorry for the hundredth time”. “Uuughhh”, I grunted and closed my eyes. An hour and seven minutes ago according to my watch if it still works, me and my family were together, we were riding the car across the desert. I scanned across the desert, watching the golden sand reflecting from the sun's rays. “Huuuh”, I sighed. It felt so cool here in the car. My family planned on having a vacation to the desert, I didn't quite agree with that, but I tried to enjoy the trip while it lasted. The desert was a beauty indeed. It all went well until my mom thought it would be a good idea if we took pictures . I grunted once more, the desert heat was unbearable and taking pictures in the heat would prolong the suffering. My family and I got out of the car and as I transitioned from a cool atmosphere to reality, I frowned. A sudden strike of heat hit me and a trickle of sweat ran down my forehead. We found a nearby tree and posed there like statues, staring at the camera, trying our best not to blink so the camera could get a good shot at us. Behind the mask with a smile I wore for the camera, I was suffering from the heatwave and hoping for it all to end. After we were done, we headed toward the car. My sister suddenly spotted a red camel. Which was pretty rare. I was wondering what a camel was doing, loose in the desert, especially a red one. Those creatures cost a lot. She ran after it. Being the childish girl she was in middle school, I wasn't surprised. I yelled at her, but knowing her, she didn't obey my orders. She didn't fail to meet my expectations, which was no surprise. Without thinking I started running after her. My mom started calling us from behind. I intended to catch her and give her one good serving of medicine. I ran after her for quite a while. The camel was gone. She slowed down now that she lost sight of it. I came up to her in rage bursting the anger that builded up in me while running after her. Our parents were now far behind us. As I started to yell, I saw what looked like a sandstorm multiple miles away. Sandstorms here traveled quickly and so I grabbed my sister’s hand and ran to the area where I thought my parents were. I started huffing deeply. That nine second break wasn't enough to catch my breath. I panicked. The sandstorm was way faster than I thought. “Close your eyes!”. I covered her with my arms and didn't like what was coming. The wind suddenly hit us with sand which felt like thousands of needles piercing through us. The pain wasn't the kind you wanted to experience. Suddenly the strong wind and needles stopped, but I could hear it still. It traveled past us. I took off the sand that covered my eyes and dusted of my clothes. I frantically scanned around the desert trying to spot where my parents were. I started to panic, I grabbed my sisters hand and started running to where I thought I had came from. After running for what felt like miles, the hope inside of me started draining out. My phone was left in the car and my energy started running out. I huffed out a very long intimidating sighed. It felt like all the anger that was inside of you escaped. But really it's just a way for me to cope with my troubles, leaving others wondering what wrong they had done to me. I started becoming weary of searching the desert and walked towards a tree to get some rest. Our clothes were covered with circles of sweat and I felt sand in between my toes which I didn't bother to take out. My throat was dry and my lips were chapped even though I drank a couple of minutes ago. I finally reached the tree and here I am wanting for sleep to overtake me, to escape reality for a while. I didn't want to go to the desert at the first place I thought. Being the least tourist attraction was no surprise. I layed down taking it all in and reflecting on the day, My head was on top of my bag. All that was in it was a pen, notebook, trash and my canteen that my father bought for each of us from the tourist shop. It had a thick layer of metal which kept the water cool and it prevented leaks. The color was gray and I loved to put it on my forehead, the exterior was cool to the touch and it gave my something feel good about. My sister fell asleep beside me. She was a fast sleeper and was a hassle to wake up. I sighed. I was weary and tired and my sleep couldn't come, not in this heat. Things that I could do was write on my notebook, try another attempt to sleep or stare at the shiny pebble less than a feet across. I chose the shiny pebble, because it required less effort and was doable in the heat. “It looks pretty”, I said sounding like I had issues. My eyelids became heavier. Slowly I closed my eyes. Startled, I suddenly woke up. A tall, black shadow was over me. It was my father.